Women Motorcyclists
Any road, any street, any highway: “Just Ride.” This is the mantra of the International Female Ride Day, a synchronized worldwide event encouraging women to get out and ride to build public awareness of female motorcyclists.
The annual event, held the first Friday in May, celebrates its fifth birthday on May 6, 2011, with participation coming from all corners of the world.
Women from Poland to Canada, El Salvador to Australia, and the United States to the Netherlands, have been posting their riding intentions on the International Female Ride Day’s Facebook page.
Vicki Gray, Director & Founder of Motoress, an online motorcycling community for women, created the International Ride Day and is quick to remind everyone that “it is not an organized ride. Women are simply to be on their motorcycles. Individually, they decide how and many enjoy meeting up with friends. It’s their decision.”
The Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) has endorsed the event, and BMW Motorrad Canada, which deploys its own initiatives for female riders, is a proud supporter.
Female rider clubs across the globe–including Moto Lady from Russia, the Harley-Davidson Club of Cape Town, and the Brisbane Australia Scooter Riders, to name a few–have thrown their support behind International Female Ride Day. Many women are riding solo, or hooking up with new friends who have posted shout-outs asking who’s riding in their local area.
If you haven’t yet made plans to get out on two wheels on May 6, just take a quick spin through the pictures documenting some of last year’s participants that can be found on the International Female Ride Day’s Facebook page.
The enthusiastic faces of the women riders posing with their bikes is inspiring, and the excited posts about this year’s ride are contagious. Don’t forget to order yourself an International Female Ride Day t-shirt, a stylish, collectible memento of the day.
